Electronics, Music and Technology

pinball

Bally’s Centaur pinball machine came from the factory with an electromagnet, installed in the top-right corner of the playfield. It would hold the ball in place after it hit the “release” target, which initiates the multi-ball mode.

Unfortunately, as time passed and these electromagnets burnt out, it became more difficult and expensive to find a replacement magnet. Most games no longer have the magnet installed, as it was likely removed to be sold.

On our machine, we had no idea if the magnet was still there, and one day decided to look under the playfield to see if there was one. It turns out there was, but it didn’t work.

After verifying the electrical side was fine, we took out the magnet to find that a screw had gone through the playfield, and through the coil!

The price of a replacement electromagnet is upwards of $100! Thus, we decided we would remove the old coil wire and wrap our own. After all, how hard could it be?

This year marked the second annual Ottawa Pinball and Gameroom Show (I tend to call it the Pinball Expo). On Friday, September 7th, 2012, over 50 pinball machines were installed at the Hilton Garden Inn by the Ottawa Airport, and by Saturday, there were around 60+ tables. The show spanned from September 8th to the 9th.

As per last year, I made a video of the show, but I was much more ambitious this year. I ended up creating something more documentary styled, incorporating multiple interviews, to find out the more personal side of pinball. The video is indeed a bit un-conventional, but I am pleased with it.

I’ve talked about electronic maintenance on our pinball machines before, including some fairly serious refurbishing. One type of restoration my father and I were hesitant to try was cosmetic, since we aren’t exactly artistic.

Well, we did it anyway! Read on for a full, detailed account of our journey restoring a Bally Medusa.

Since getting the new camera, I’ve been getting around to filming a lot of things I’ve wanted to do in HD. I apologize for the jiggle: I learnt the hard way that image stabilization should always be enabled.

Well, my dad has recently become a pinball machine collector. In August, he bought his first machine, Riviera, and soon, he had acquired 4 more machines. Most recently, he acquired his first electronic pinball machine, Gorgar, by Williams, based in Chicago. Here is a brief description: released December of 1979, 14,000 units were made, it has a jungle theme to it, with a heartbeat sound in the background that speeds up as game-play intensifies. It looks to me like it will be a LOT of fun once we get it working properly.

The machine mostly works, the lights all flash, points are counted, the ball is served (one set of solenoids isn’t working right now, that bring up the GAR letter targets), however it doesn’t allow you to play more than one player (it is a four player game), and it doesn’t stop at 5 balls: you get infinite plays. › Continue reading